I sincerely dislike disparaging my country, Nigeria, but at this point, I am extremely irritated by everything that appears to be going on here. Things are constantly out of control, and no one seems to know how to steer us in the right direction, but our leaders all seem to be clear on how to deal with things of little or no consequence, such as cryptocurrencies.
The government imposed a ban on cryptocurrencies in February of last year, stating that financial institutions have no right to get close to them, and exchange accounts were enthusiastically frozen and even closed because, according to them, cryptocurrencies are tools of rebellion against the legacy financial system and the authorities.
At the time, it didn't seem like such a bad move because many other governments were taking similar draconian measures as the cryptocurrency narrative was twisted to make it appear as if it supported finance terrorism, enabled kidnapping and money-laundering, and promoted obscurity.
This has proven to be very incorrect as terrorists and kidnappers may have struggled to move large amounts of cryptocurrency in the past due to the concentration of liquidity on formal exchanges, but this seems to have changed as liquidity pours into the black market, where they can freely transact outside the radar of law enforcement.
The level of insecurity appears to be rising on a daily basis, affecting the day-to-day lives of ordinary Nigerians. I've always been optimistic and dismissed reports of insecurity in my surroundings as exaggerated until it hit very close to home yesterday.
As an ardent football supporter and fan of the Super Eagles (national team), I and my friends thought we would be doing our country a favour by attending the all-important 2022 World Cup Qualifiers Play-offs at the national stadium in Abuja, which is a two-hour drive away.
Because the roads are not without kidnappings, we chose to take the safer train route to Abuja to watch the game, only to learn on the news that the train, too, had been attacked and the route had been temporarily suspended. This immediately meant that we would have to cancel the trip, which disappointed me because I had been looking forward to it.
This seems all too familiar these days, as my once-beloved nation continues to disappoint me and break my spirits, as well as my dreams and aspirations. Incorrect government policies are constantly becoming a bane to our very existence, and things that should be prioritized, such as security, are ignored, while things with little or no consequence are given top priority.
We had a technology shut down last year, ostensibly to stop the actions of kidnappers and terrorists in the country. I couldn't help but wonder how someone could believe that cutting off the network connection that could help catch criminals was the problem and that it should be completely shut down.
Clearly, the heads of those in power are not in the right place because they are constantly preoccupied with trivial matters while paying no attention to the important ones.
There would be an election next year, and while I don't completely believe in the credibility of an election, I think it's a great place to start in making the much-needed 180-degree turn the country so desperately needs.
Even though I know there is no place like home, I am beginning to consider leaving the country. All of these thoughts make me think of a line from Warsan Shire's poem "Leaving Home".
You only leave home
When home won't let you stay
I think I'm starting to hate it here; I just hope it gets better before it gets unbearably bad.
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